A Tale Of Target & Teenagers - With A Twist
This has NOTHING to do with food or music - although I was looking for a new DVD player to quality proof the authored DVDs I'm knocking out these days. This is about something I witnessed in a south Chicago suburban Target which got me thinking about a few things, especially juxtaposed against our current political climate. That is to say: Litigious, race cards & accusations of race being thrown around everywhere, invasion of privacy - you name it.
I'll get to the main story in a minute, but when the checkout girl said they'd need to scan my driver's license to buy a bottle of wine - I said HELL NO. I'm obviously well over 21 to anyone who's not blind, and I have never had anyone ask to scan/digitize my ID before to make a simple (cash) purchase. Even though part of my life is in the spotlight, I've always had a funny feeling about & been resistant about giving up my info to anyone. But that's a different conversation - here's the main story:
As I walked into the Target, I noticed 5 or 6 teenage girls sitting by the little food court, maybe 13 or 14, all pretty much dressed the same (shorts, tank tops, flip flops, light jewelry - the tribal/gang thing most teenagers do naturally), having a fairly rowdy good time, no adult supervision in sight. I remember thinking about how it was like being at that age - testing boundaries, trying to crack up your pals, seeing who could be the most bold or outrageous.
I went my way, checking out various stuff, breaking down the layout like I always do in stores (i.e., POP displays, lighting, large format print ads, inventory, flow of the store; I know, I'm a freak that way). Before long, I noticed the crap-tastic Halloween inventory was already out (and it's mid-September). And then I heard the teenage girls being loud nearby; and then I saw something else.
It was a mid 30-ish Target employee - red shirt & khaki pants with a walkie talkie on her belt - coming up fast, and getting on those girls like a duck on a junebug (as they say). She had a very stern delivery: "If you girls aren't going to buy anything, you need to take off those Halloween masks and move along. Otherwise I'm calling security." A few other Target clones came onto the scene, and I heard some chatter on their walkies; the girls calmed down a little, and did seem to be moving along (I didn't stick around to see the outcome).
And now... Before I tell you what COLOR OF SKIN the girls or the stern employee had - can you figure out what I was thinking at that moment? Here it is: I was wondering what would have happened if the girls had been a different color/race - would that scenario had played out differently? Would there have been a complaint to the store? Or even a lawsuit? Or an embellishment of what was actually said by the employee? Even though I thought the employee was well within her responsibilities to lay down the law, we've all heard stories about crazy stuff happening in these big box/corporate chain stores.
Like I said - I'm a freak, and my mind just gets carried away a lot of times. And now (big finish): The skin color of all the teenage girls and the stern employee was (scroll down for answer)...
..... white.
I'll get to the main story in a minute, but when the checkout girl said they'd need to scan my driver's license to buy a bottle of wine - I said HELL NO. I'm obviously well over 21 to anyone who's not blind, and I have never had anyone ask to scan/digitize my ID before to make a simple (cash) purchase. Even though part of my life is in the spotlight, I've always had a funny feeling about & been resistant about giving up my info to anyone. But that's a different conversation - here's the main story:
As I walked into the Target, I noticed 5 or 6 teenage girls sitting by the little food court, maybe 13 or 14, all pretty much dressed the same (shorts, tank tops, flip flops, light jewelry - the tribal/gang thing most teenagers do naturally), having a fairly rowdy good time, no adult supervision in sight. I remember thinking about how it was like being at that age - testing boundaries, trying to crack up your pals, seeing who could be the most bold or outrageous.
I went my way, checking out various stuff, breaking down the layout like I always do in stores (i.e., POP displays, lighting, large format print ads, inventory, flow of the store; I know, I'm a freak that way). Before long, I noticed the crap-tastic Halloween inventory was already out (and it's mid-September). And then I heard the teenage girls being loud nearby; and then I saw something else.
It was a mid 30-ish Target employee - red shirt & khaki pants with a walkie talkie on her belt - coming up fast, and getting on those girls like a duck on a junebug (as they say). She had a very stern delivery: "If you girls aren't going to buy anything, you need to take off those Halloween masks and move along. Otherwise I'm calling security." A few other Target clones came onto the scene, and I heard some chatter on their walkies; the girls calmed down a little, and did seem to be moving along (I didn't stick around to see the outcome).
And now... Before I tell you what COLOR OF SKIN the girls or the stern employee had - can you figure out what I was thinking at that moment? Here it is: I was wondering what would have happened if the girls had been a different color/race - would that scenario had played out differently? Would there have been a complaint to the store? Or even a lawsuit? Or an embellishment of what was actually said by the employee? Even though I thought the employee was well within her responsibilities to lay down the law, we've all heard stories about crazy stuff happening in these big box/corporate chain stores.
Like I said - I'm a freak, and my mind just gets carried away a lot of times. And now (big finish): The skin color of all the teenage girls and the stern employee was (scroll down for answer)...
..... white.
